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Should Marching Members (gasp!) UNIONIZE?


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9 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said:

so what DCI figure is their Hoffa.....at least until the rumors surface they are under the end zone at LOS

I was thinking that hole in the endzone in Bloomington, '08.

That flood was AWFULLY convenient, don't you think?

:ph34r:

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59 minutes ago, jthomas666 said:

More to the point, MMs are not employees.

You're right, of course.  They are paying for an experience.

And, while it's fine to say "Go find another corps if you don't like this experience", mm's are now negotiating the kind of experience they want for their money.

The actual more interesting question is around what the MM's planned to do if their requests were turned down.  Not march?

"More sleep time" is not normally something requiring negotiation when paying to do the "experience" of drum corps.

How long will it be before all MMs request and expect the same level of "experience" that BD provides? 

Headline:  "The entire Blue corps refused to don their uniforms and perform until they receive their demands plus remuneration for the experience they missed while having to negotiate with staff for sleep time."

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3 hours ago, garfield said:

Uh, yes there is!  Audition fees, tour fees, the money that changes hands at the gate and at the DCI end-of-year payout.

If no money is involved, MM would march for free.

 

 

but they get none back. what union out there gets no income from the vocation their union covers?

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3 hours ago, garfield said:

I was thinking that hole in the endzone in Bloomington, '08.

That flood was AWFULLY convenient, don't you think?

:ph34r:

they were trying to get Pitts before the other DM did

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I do think that it is good when members can present their views to staff/administration.  This has happened forever.  In recent times, though, I wonder if it happens far less frequently.   I can tell you...for example, uniforms......there are uniforms today that are presented, where back in the day, we would have said, "we aren't wearing THAT", and that would have been the end of it.  Today, I think more is forced on the member and there is little or no feedback.  Even money was "negotiated" at times back in the day.  In my 2nd year, I was not going to march.  A member had a problem, and I got the call.  I told them I had no money to march (which was true, as I was working to save money for my Fall semester/Senior Year of college).  Within an hour, calls were made, and I marched for free (had to learn the show in 4 days).     On the other hand, that same year......our buses were bad and A/C did not work.....brutally uncomfortable to travel during the day and then we were tired/hot when we arrived at our sites........we gave a petition to the director with 100 signatures saying that we wanted to travel at night after shows like our competitors were..........we were denied........in defense of the director, we had many breakdowns with our bad buses, and I think he didn't want to get stranded along the road late at night...........as long as final decisions are still going to be that of admin./staff (with the accountability that comes with that), and members feel that their suggestions/opinions at least are heard (without any repercussions)  and are being considered.........all is good.  I will say that not too many years ago, my old corps was struggling, and at the end of a particular season, a sizeable number of brass players said that they would not return if the brass arranger was kept.  A change was made.  There are many smart kids in drum corps, and they may  have some ideas that help things go even better.

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There have been attempts before to unionize some NCAA athletes.

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9 hours ago, garfield said:

Uh, yes there is!  Audition fees, tour fees, the money that changes hands at the gate and at the DCI end-of-year payout.

If no money is involved, MM would march for free.

 

 

Money changes hands in Little League concession stands too, but they're not going to unionize either.

(this conversation is ridiculous)

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9 hours ago, N.E. Brigand said:

There have been attempts before to unionize some NCAA athletes.

they get full rides.

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